Palaeography

Quick reference

Dating

Detail from historiated initial, Mary I and Phillip of Spain

Calendar Years

1752 was the first year in England to officially
begin on 1 January. Until the Calendar Act of 1752, the year in
England began officially on 25 March (Lady Day), and not 1 January
(even though this was when New Year’s Day was celebrated).

Thus the year number did not change until 25
March, so taking 1558 as an example, the dates ran as follows:

November

1558

December

1558

January

1558

February

1558

March 1 to 24

1558

March 25

1559

So if you see a document dated any time between
January and 24 March before 1752, be aware that in modern terms,
you need to add a year. In publications you may see this written
as January 1750/51, the year as it was known at the time / the
year as we know it now. This is also known as OS (Old Style) and
NS (New Style).

The Calendar Act 1752 brought about further changes. In 1582 Pope Gregory XIII had reformed the calendar, then in use, known as the Julian Calendar (named after Julius Caesar). The Julian Calendar did not correspond exactly to the solar year. The new Gregorian Calendar cut 10 days from the year in adjustment. Other Catholic countries followed and adopted the Gregorian Calendar but England, being Protestant, did not. England therefore remained 10 days behind the New Style Calendar. By 1752 England was some 11 days behind other European countries. So in 1752 these days had to be cut out of the year to make the adjustment. Therefore Wednesday 2 September 1752 was followed immediately by Thursday 14 September.

In Scotland, 1 January became the official
beginning of the year in 1600, the day after 31 December 1599.

Regnal Years

Some documents will be dated not by the calendar
year but by the regnal year - how long the ruling monarch had been
on the throne.

‘1 Elizabeth I’ means the first year of the
reign of Elizabeth I. Elizabeth I came to the throne on 17 November
1558, so 1 Elizabeth I means some time between 17 November 1558
and 16 November 1559.

Watch out for documents written in the reign
of Charles II. Although he came to the throne in May 1660, after
the Commonwealth period, he actually calculated his regnal
year as beginning on 30 January 1649, the date of the execution of
his father Charles I. So documents written in the first year that
Charles II was genuinely on the throne would actually be styled 12
Charles II.

For more information about dates (including
saints days, regnal years, religious festivals and terms of the
law courts) see C.R. Cheney and M. Jones (eds), ‘A Handbook
of Dates: For Students of British History’ (Cambridge University
Press, revd 2000).

Numbers

Arabic numerals were not used in England until
the 16th century, and even after then Roman numerals continued to
be used.

Most people today are still familiar with
the classic Roman numerals. Be aware, however, that you will find
them represented in a slightly different way in documents written
in English. In particular, the lower case was used. A ‘1’ by itself,
or at the end of a number, was usually represented by a ‘j’.

Classic

English

I = 1

j = 1

II = 2

ij = 2

IV = 4

iiij = 4 (not usually iv)

V = 5

V = 5

X = 10

X = 10

XL = 40

A smaller numeral in front of a larger numeral
indicates subtraction

L = 50

l = 50 (don’t get this mixed up with ‘i’,
which means ‘1’. i’s were usually dotted if they were representing
numbers).

LX = 60

A larger numeral in front of a smaller numeral
is an addition

C = 100

C = 100

D = 500

D = 500

M = 1000

M = 1000

Counting was done in scores (a score = 20),
so you will often come across something like this:
xx
iiij ( 20 over 4), which means 4 times 20, or four score, which is
80. Compare this with the modern French word for 80 - quatre-vingts,
‘four twenties’.

Ordinal numbers are represented by superscript
letters following them, just as today.

xxiiijth = 24th

But note xxijth = ‘two and twentieth’,
that is 22nd.

Money

One pound = 20 shillings. The pound was represented
either by ‘li’, or £: transcribe both with a £ sign before
the amount given. This symbol is actually an elaborate ‘L’, from
the Latin ‘libra’, meaning pound. Compare the symbol for about a
pound in weight, which is represented by ‘lb’ - it comes from the
same.

One shilling = 12 pennies. A shilling was
represented by ‘s’, originally short for ‘solidos’, a Roman coin.

One penny = two halfpennies, or four farthings.
A penny was represented by ‘d’, short for ‘denarius’, a Roman coin.

One halfpenny = 2 farthings. A halfpenny was
represented by ‘ob’, short for ‘obolus’, a Roman coin.

One farthing = a quarter of a penny. A farthing
was represented by ‘qua’, short for ‘quadrans’.

A 4d coin was called a groat.

There was also an amount of money known as
a mark. A mark was not an actual coin, but an amount. It was worth
two-thirds of a pound, that is 13s 4d. Half a mark (one-third of
a pound) was therefore 6s 8d.

When transcribing documents that mention amounts
of money, do not expand the abbreviations such as li, ob, etc. Leave
them abbreviated, and remember to transcribe li as ‘£’. They were never written out in full.

Measurements

Square measurements were given in acres (abbreviated
to ‘a’), roods (‘r’) and perches (‘p’).

40 perches = 1 rood

4 roods = 1 acre

Confusion arises from the fact that a perch
is also a measurement of length. A perch, pole and rod are all terms
for a measurement of length of approximately 5 metres (5.5 yards).
For further information about measurement see Colin Chapman, ‘How
heavy, how much and how long?: weights, money and other measures
used by our ancestors’ (Lochin,1995).